it also in wanting to prepare at least the first act for me swiftly". Bellini's expectation that he would promptly receive the first act turned out to be a mistake. His librettist had vastly over-committed himself: by the time that Christina became Beatrice, he had made commitments to other composers for an October opera, for an opera for La Scala in February 1833, for a Parma production on 26 February, for La Scala on 10 March, and for Florence on 17 March. In spite of Romani's contract deadlines, no progress towards the preparation of the libretto for Beatrice took place in November. Bellini announced that he would arrive in Venice in early December, but after the 10th, he became preoccupied with rehearsals for his stagings of Norma. However, the lack of any verses—for an opera which was supposed to be given its premiere in the second half of February—caused him to have to take action against Romani. He lodged a complaint with the governor of Venice who then contacted the governor of Milan, who then had his police contact Romani. The librettist finally arrived in Venice on 1 January 1833. He holed up to write Bellini's libretto, but, at the same time, Donizetti was equally incensed at delays in receiving a libretto from Romani for an opera which was to be Parisina. When Norma opened on 26 December, it was a success but only because of Pasta; the other singers were not well received. This caused Bellini to fear for how Beatrice would turn out. Writing to his friend Santocanale in Palermo on 12 January, the composer was in despair, complaining of the short time to write his opera: "whose fault is that? that of my usual and original poet, the God of Sloth!" Their relationship quickly began to deteriorate: greetings including tu (the informal "you") gave way to voi (the formal "you") and they lived in different parts of Venice, unusual when they were working together outside their home city. However, by 14 February, Bellini was reporting that he had only "another three pieces of the [first act of the] opera to do". He still had the second act to set to music. On that date he notes to Ferlito that "I hope to go onstage here on 6 March if I am able to finish the opera and prepare it." As it turned out, Bellini was only able